WELLNESS

We all know that a vegan pastry will contain no animal products...eggs...dairy... Simple, right? But what about vegan nail polish? Not as simple to discern the vegan qualifier. Born of a discussion with a sweet friend o' mine, I began researching vegan polish and why it matters.

Many brands use carmine which gives that lovely crimson hue. Turns out, the dye comes from crushing female beetles (70,000 female beetles per 1/2 pound to be exact). This coloring is often used in lipsticks as well. *Pause for shudder* And a similar dye product is used in food colorings. *Eeek* Another common ingredient used is guanine, derived from fish scales which gives a metallic finish to polish.

On top of the 'eek!' factor, many polishes also contain known carcinogens like toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, and formaldehyde resin. Depending on your own convictions, you may see no harm in squashing bugs or scaling fish for your personal beauty rituals; however, these other carcinogenic ingredients are real problems. And with so many safer alternatives on the market -- why not buy cruelty & toxin-free?